High School

WOODBURY — The Nonnewaug High wrestling team took a giant step toward returning the Berkshire League pennant to Woodbury on Wednesday night with four pins and a technical fall in a 38-30 decision over Terryville.

The defending league champion Kangaroos won five matches and picked up two forfeits, but they had just one pin. Teams earn six points for a pin, but just three points for a decision.

The dual meet victory put Nonnewaug in position to win its 14th league championship in the last 18 years. The Chiefs (10-2, 2-0 BL) have their final BL match with Housatonic on Feb. 5, but the Mountaineers have a small team and Nonnewaug will be heavily favored to win.

BL teams earn two points for a dual meet victory and one point for each team they beat the BL Tournament on Feb. 14 at Nonnewaug. Terryville could win a share of the league title if they win the BL tournament and the Chiefs finish third.

But that is highly unlikely. No BL team that has gone undefeated in the dual meet portion of the schedule has ever finished lower than second in the BL Tournament. And Chiefs coach David Green feels his team is an even stronger tournament team than a dual meet team.

Nonnewaug won the Lawless Invitational two weeks ago and finished third at the Eagle Classic on Saturday in Manchester behind No. 6 Newtown and defending Class S champion Windham. Five wrestlers won medals,

See CHIEFS, Page 8B

including John D'Agostino (184) and Albi Cekici (197), who won their respective weight classes.

"Our kids wrestled tough tonight," Terryville coach Peter Veleas said. "I can't fault them at all. We did everything we could do. I can't think of anything else we could have done."

Terryville (8-9, 3-1 BL) pushed Nonnewaug from the start, but couldn't put the Chiefs away. Terryville's Elliot Wilion (126) was clearly better than Ian Pedroza in a 10-3 decision, but couldn't pin him. Instead of getting six points for the pin, Terryville got just three for a decision. At 138, Nonnewaug freshman Andrew Tilbe picked up a key takedown in the third period to outlast second-year wrestler Casey Norton, 9-6.

"We lost at 195 and 126, but we didn't get pinned," Green said. "Sometimes you can win a match because you don't lose (by pin)."

Terryville led 21-12 after six matches when Terryville's Sam Ferreira (120) pinned Edward Boistis in 5:17. The Kangaroos extended the lead to 12 points at 24-12 when Wilion beat Pedroza at 126.

But Nonnewaug won five of the final seven matches. Kieran Duggan (132) won by technical fall over Connor Levins and Tilbe beat Norton, 9-6 to cut the Kangaroos lead to 24-20. Terryville extended the lead to 27-20 when George Andrews (145) beat Ethan Yates, 10-7.

But back-to-back pins from Nonnewaug's Yuri Gulak (152) and Cain Hardisty (160) gave the Chiefs a 32-27 lead. Terryville cut the lead to 32-30 after Tyler Bergeron's 6-0 win over Elijah Gonillo at 170 pounds.

But Nonnewaug's John D'Agostino (180) won easily in less than a minute to clinch the victory.

The Chiefs clearly wanted their championship back, but they haven't been focusing solely on Terryville. "If we wrestle our game, do what we know and execute, I believe we can beat any team," said D'Agostino.

Green and Veleas were both pleased with the competitive nature of the match. "We need matches like this, good tough matches when the kids need to score," Green said. "These kind of matches are good experience."

Both coaches moved wrestlers around the lineup. Justin Pronovost usually wrestles at 195 for Terryville. He moved up to 220 and picked up a forfeit. Cekici, who wrestles at 195 for the Chiefs, moved up to 285 and won by pin.

For Terryville, freshman Josh Wright beat Nonnewaug's Anthony Delia, 5-4, at 195 pounds with a takedown with 17 seconds left in the first period. Terryville had a 15-12 lead after five matches thanks to Wright's win and two forfeits.

Follow Us

Post a reader comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog. Please be civil and respectful.If you're witty, to the point and quotable, your reader comments may also be included on the Around the Towns page of The Sunday Republican. Readers must be registered and logged in to post comments on the site. Registration is free. Click Here to register.
A Subscription is not required to post comments only a Registration.